Sure, it might be easy to find a book on your topic. But how do you know it's solid work? Or how it fits into the current research community? And what if you're overwhelmed by your Franklin searching ... and all you want is a good book on your topic? These suggestions will help you to answer these questions.
SEARCH HINT! In a fulltext database - PsycCRITIQUES, JSTOR, and MegaFILE, for example - overwhelming results can be winnowed by adding this synonym set to your search:
(recommended OR excellent OR outstanding OR "must read" OR important OR landmark*)
Even if the review's subject book is not great, perhaps the review will mention a book that shouldn't be missed!
Franklin, the Penn Library's online catalog, lists the millions of books, journal titles, videos, and other materials held in Penn's campus libraries or available online to Penn readers.
Franklin uses a large array of Library of Congress subjects headings to describe books on behavioral and decision sciences. NOTE! There is no subject heading, "Behavioral Economics", so it's a good idea to try several searches before hitting the stacks. You can search Franklin using these subject headings in several ways:
Subject Heading Browse (LCSH) = economics--psychological aspects
Subject Heading Keyword = "game theory" psycholog*
Keyword Expert = subject:("game theory" OR "games of strategy" OR "cooperative games") AND subject:(negotiat* OR voting OR "political science" OR policy)
Here's a large selection of relevant Library of Congress Subject Headings, with "Subject Heading Keyword" searches in Franklin:
| "decision making" | "problem solving" | dilemma |
| "group decision making" | "fuzzy decision making" | "multiple criteria decision making" |
| "game theory" | "auction theory" | "cooperative games (mathematics)" |
| "differential games" | "games of strategy (mathematics)" | "nooncoperative games" |
| "simulation games" | "statistical decision" | "choice (psychology)" |
| "delay discounting" | neuroeconomics | "executive functions (neuropsychology)" |
| insight | "searching behavior" | "economics--psychological aspects" |
Franklin uses Library of Congress subject headings and subject heading subdivisions to describe books about specific age groups and other subpopulations:
| adulthood | "young adults" | teenagers |
| "... in adolescence" | "teenage girls" | "teenage boys" |
| youth | children | "... in children" |
| students | "college students" | "high school students" |
Franklin also uses Library of Congress subject heading subdivisions to describe methodologies or data sources:
| methodology | anecdotes | autobiography |
| "case studies" | correspondence | "cross-cultural studies" |
| "longitudinal studies" | "personal narratives" | testing |
You can whittle down very large search results by AND'ing "aspects" that describe a work's disciplinary orientation:
| attitudes | "health aspects" | "moral and ethical aspects" |
| "physiological aspects" | "psychological aspects" | "sex differences" |
| "social aspects" | "therapeutic use" | treatment |
